Digimon Frontier 02: A New Era REWRITE
by MichaelSK16
Summary: It's been 4 years since the Legendary Warriors defeated Lucemon. The Digital World is in a state of crisis again. The Legendary Warriors must be called upon again, along with 6 new warriors, to stop the new evil force known as the Dark Triad. Will it end there though? Drama, Comedy, Romance, Bicker and Banter, Angst, Romance, you name it, this probably has it. Kouzumi KouichixOC
1. A rewrite is in progress!

Hi there~

MichaelSK16 back again with some (kinda) exciting news (possibly.) So I discontinued this story a few months ago after a computer crash led to me losing all of my material on this story and I dropped it at Ch. 3. I've recently found myself at unrest with this and have begun working on this story again. I'll probably end up rewriting the first 3 chapters as well to touch them up and I may or may not also add a prologue of some sort to provide a little back story. I'm still debating this.

If I don't do a prologue, I'll do individual back story chapters to cover each warrior, though that may take some time.

Anyway, in terms of the story's summary for those who haven't read what little I had finished, it goes as follows:

Four years after the original adventure, the Digital World is in distress again due to the formation of an evil alliance. This alliance has banded together to overthrow the Celestial Angels, take over the Digital World, and open a portal to the real world. On top of this, the alliance has gained a large following and has forced the Celestial Angels into refuge.

With all of this chaos occurring in the Digital World, the original warriors receive an all-too-familiar message without a sender, along with 6 new chosen children. They must find their way to the Digital World and put a stop to this alliance before they enslave both worlds.

Well now that I've got that out of the way, I still am in a rebuilding process, and this includes filling out evolution lines for each of the warriors and things of that sort.


	2. Chapter 1: Introduction

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything related to Digimon. I don't own the characters, the idea of Digimon, or anything that pertains to the canon story. I own the story's plot line and the OCs I created.

Author Note: I may switch back and forth between Japanese and English names, and my OCs names are also Japanese when they're introduced, though I have simplified them in an attempt to make it easier on the readers.

* * *

"Run, Neemon you idiot!" yelled a white bear-like creature over his shoulder. "We can't stop now! They'll catch us for sure!" He shrieked

"But I'm tired! And my feet hurt! And My pants are too tight!" whined a yellow rabbit-like creature who was sporting red pants. "Can't we just stop for a minute, Bokomon?" Neemon insisted as they traversed the barren, deserted wasteland that used to be a thriving city in the Fire terminal.

"No, you twit!" Bokomon yelled. "Don't you understand our current predicament?" He cried. "We're in over our heads this time! We really need to get a message out to the Legendary Warriors and this time we may need to call on new children to fill the remaining spirits as well!" He spoke swiftly, gasping for breath from time to time.

"But Bokomon, I don't understand what we're running from, or where we're running to! Could you explain it one more time?" Neemon asked imbecilely, stopping in his tracks. Bokomon bowed his head in his hands, shaking it hopelessly.

"Neemon, my nit-witted friend," Bokomon sighed, "When will you learn to pay attention the first time?"

"When you start making things more interesting." Neemon stated bluntly. Bokomon buried his face in his hands again, completely flabbergasted by his ignoramus of a pal.

"Okay, let me explain one more time." Bokomon began, "Do you at least remember when the Legendary Warriors were here, when they defeated Lucemon and saved the world?"

"Uhhhhhhhm…" Neemon contemplated "….yes."

"Okay, that's a start." Bokomon said with a fake sense of security. "Well you see, when Lucemon was defeated, we had believed our troubles were gone. We were wrong." Bokomon said. "You see, Neemon, Lucemon's fractal digitization should have purified the Digital World and returned it to its original form. It did, or so we thought. The world began to return to normal, but has recently stopped reforming and has once again begun deteriorating. This time it seems to be coming from a strange substance that has both a gaseous and slimy liquid form. This substance in liquid form is melting through the land straight to the core. This is polluting the core of the world and nobody can figure out where the gunk is coming from. Not only is it destroying our land in liquid form, but in gaseous form it is also sending Digimon into uncontrollable fits of rage and frenzy. The pollution is unbearable. The Celestial Council had come to the conclusion that this was the doing of the Dark Triad, an abysmal alliance of dark and fiendish Digimon who have tagged together to overthrow Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon. These three Digimon are Astamon, Phelesmon, and NeoDevimon. They are the darkest of the dark. You must understand the severity of our situation Neemo-…"

"ZzZz…..Snore…." Neemon stood in his place, fast asleep.

Bokomon cried out in rage and disbelief "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU MINDLESS NINCOMPOOP!" he grabbed the elastic waste of Neemon's pants, pulled back, and snapped them, bringing Neemon back to in a shriek of pain.

"Why would you do that? Owowowowow." Neemon whined. Bokomon ignored his whimpering friend and continued off in a hurried pace

"We don't have time for these games, Neemon!" he shouted back. He walked in silence for a few moments, a strange feeling overcoming him. Bokomon turned around, and Neemon was nowhere to be seen. "Where on earth is that prat now?" Bokomon said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "Neemon! Where are you, you twat!" he shouted. "We don't have time for this! They're going to find us-" he said as a shadow loomed over him.

Bokomon's eyes looked the mass up and down. The legs the size of tree trunks stood firmly under the ripped torso of the half man/half bull with razor-sharp horns on each side of its head. Its thin coat of hair was a shade of brown and one of its massive arms had been replaced with a cannon steel cannon.

"Min-Minotarumon!" Bokomon shrieked in terror.

"Hush up, puny teddy bear" said the hulking bull unintelligently as he picked up Bokomon in his normal hand. "You's comin' wif me. Da boss requits ya remediate jailin'."

"Pardon me, but don't you mean 'requests my immediate jailing'?" Bokomon corrected the lug.

"Ya! Dat's what he said!" Said the hulking moron. "Okay let's go. Boss don't like ta wait." He set off with Bokomon squirming in his massive hand.

"Let me go, you giant ignoramus!" he yelled.

"Marvelous." Said the dark figure, a pleased smile spreading across his face. "That idiot has managed to grab the smart one while the other oaf Gulfmon seemed to get the moronic one to follow him with no opposition." Astamon sat in the monitor room watching the scene unfold from one of the hundreds of screens monitoring the Digital World. Astamon had a humanoid figure but possessed traits of a rodent. His face resembled that of a black squirrel with two horns jutting out over its eyes and sharp teeth, but it was mounted on a tall bipedal body in a pinstriped suit and a grey and red overcoat. He had long white hair that flowed down his back and ran over his black wings. He had his trusty knives hidden up one sleeve and his "Oro-Salmon" fully automatic rifle in the other hand.

"Master Astamon!" a robotic alien Digimon entered the room, gadgets and gizmos of all sorts acting as arms and stray wires acting as legs.

"Yes, Ebemon?" asked Astamon.

"Gulfmon has arrived with the idiot prisoner!" proclaimed the odd alien Digimon.

"Prep a cell immediately and make sure he is completely isolated!" Astamon demanded. "They cannot relay that message from Ophanimon."

"Roger that, Sir." Said Ebemon as he rushed out of the room.

"The Celestial Angels are hopeless now!" proclaimed Astamon.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, now, Astamon." Said a voice from the shadows.

"When did you get here, NeoDevimon?" said Astamon

"As that twerp was leaving." He replied. NeoDevimon was a white fallen angel Digimon. He had gigantic crimson wings and his disproportionately long arms were covered in a crimson cloth wrap. Each of his fingers was capped by a razor-sharp golden claw. He wore black armored pants with gold knee guards, spiked boots, and a black shoulder guard. The left side of his torso was lined with red spheres lodged into his skin. His face was covered by a gold bi-horned mask, which is said to conceal his true power and control him, but below it shone six ghastly white eyes. Behind the mask, locks of snow-white hair fell down his neck.

"I presume all went as planned?" Astamon questioned.

"Why, of course. How could you ever doubt my ability? There is no way those Celestial Angels will ever be prepared for the barrage I have planned."

"Excellent." Astamon smirked. "What about Phelesmon, have you heard back from him yet?"

"I haven't heard a word yet. You know how he is. He isn't exactly the best communicator, and he isn't exactly in his right mind. We may never hear from him. We just have to assume he's doing fine. His production of the Aphotic Acid hasn't faltered yet, so I don't think we have much to worry about." Neo Devimon said confidently.

"Yes, that's true," agreed Astamon, "but this is different. There's a big difference between spawning it and mass producing it. Who knows if we can control it or the Digimon it begins to control?"

"Like I said, we just have to hope for the best." Said Neo Devimon cooly. Little did he or Astamon know, beyond the walls which confined their conversation, Datamon stood, listening to the entire thing.

"Oh no!" the little robot Digimon proclaimed. "What on earth am I gonna do about this? I have to make sure Bokomon and Neemon get out of here and warn the Celestial Angels!"

"Hey! What are you doing on this level, grunt?" Roared Asuramon "Get back to your post!"

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Datamon. He scurried away, down to the lower levels near the entrance to the dungeon, all the while plotting his rescue mission.

* * *

"_There goes Kanbara. He splits the defenders right down the middle. He dribbles the ball right past the last line of defense. The all-star striker has a breakaway!" Takuya Kanbara, striker and captain of the Japanese National team, dashed ahead, in alone against the goalkeeper. "This one is for the World Cup folks! He winds up, and he shoots!" The ball left Takuya's foot like a rocket off a launch pad. The goalkeeper leapt to the left in desperation as the ball tipped off his fingers, and into the back of the net. The crowd erupted. Takuya was surrounded by his team. "The sixteen-year-old phenom has done it again! He has carried Japan straight to the history books!" the announcer exclaimed as Takuya was being hoisted on his teammates' shoulders. Takuya was basking in the glory, ready for the award ceremony when-_

_ BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP_

_The scene around him froze as the obnoxious beeping rang clear threw the stadium._

"_Somebody turn that off!" He shouted. The sound only grew louder as a voice called him in the distance._

"_Takuya…..Takuya…." The soft voice was getting closer. "TAKUYA!" The voice roared._

"AHHH!" shouted Takuya as he fumbled around in his blanket and rolled off his bed, hitting the floor with a thud. "Wah…happened?" he said groggily, opening his eyes to see a middle-aged woman with the same hair and eye color as him standing over him, just glaring.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Mister?" Yuriko Kanbara roared. It took a moment for Takuya to realize what was going on and to register what his mother had just said. _Think Takuya._ He said to himself. _What day of the week is it? Why is your dragon of a mother so angry? What have you forgotten now? What's for dinner tonigh-NO! NO! NO! Stay focused. _He said, getting back on track. _Let's see. It's a Sunday. I can't be late for school. _He looked toward his alarm clock, which his mother had just turned off. 10:30. _It isn't that late, so it's not like I've slept all day. Let's see. Mother's Day? No, that was last week. Father's Day? No that's next month. Their anniversary isn't until November. Mom's birthday was in February. Dad's is later this month. Shinya….well, who cares about that twerp?_

"Uh…Sorry Mom. I'm lost. Mind filling me in?" He said while rubbing the back of his head. He could feel his hair was a mess.

"You told me to wake you up early today! I've been trying for an hour! You were supposed to meet your friends or something. Some major day or something." She said, clearly agitated about her son's carelessness and absent-mindedness.

"CRAPPP!" Takuya shouted, remembering why he'd asked his mother to wake him up early on a perfectly good Sunday. "I'm late!"

"No, really?" his mother sassed.

"Sorry Ma! I gotta run!" He said in hysterics. "Get out while I change okay?" he said in a tone that sounded rather rude. His mother just glared and walked out. _Well that's not the best way to start a morning. _He thought to himself as he threw on a black shirt with an orange outline of a fireball or his white undershirt. _Crap! They're gonna be so pissed at me! Kouji is gonna kill me!_ Takuya thought as he threw on a pair of ¾ length khaki cargos. He scoured his pigsty of a desk in search of his D-Tector and his goggled-hat. Since the adventure in the Digital World, Takuya had replaced his old hat and goggles with new ones, which he claimed were more "manly." His new hat was a shade of khaki and his goggles were now round as opposed to square. He dashed out of his room and down the hall. As he turned the corner, he slipped and fell down the stairs, resulting in a huge crash.

"I swear, Takuya. If I had a dollar for every time you fell down those stairs after oversleeping, I'd be a rich woman." His mother said casually as she passed by her son, crumpled at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thanks for the concern!" He said as he dashed out the front door.

"Wait! Aren't you going to have breakfa-" she began as the door slammed shut. _That kid, he'd lose his head if it weren't attached to his body._ She thought as she walked into the kitchen and sat down with her husband and her younger son, Shinya.

"Is that boy _always_ in a hurry?" asked Hiroaki Kanbara.

"His surname isn't the _only_ thing he gets from you, honey." She replied.

"I was never as bad as he is!" he said in his defense.

"Okay, dear." She said, smirking. The front door opened again, followed by a ruckus and a loud proclamation of "CRAP!" indicating Takuya had forgot something.

"Ma! Have you seen my shoes?" He yelled.

"I don't wear them, hon." She replied.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He shouted.

"Watch your mouth, son!" replied Mr. Kanbara.

"Sorry, Dad!" Takuya said. "Found 'em!" The door slammed again and he was off.

"Like father, like son." Mrs. Kanbara giggled. Mr. Kanbara just frowned.

* * *

"Where is that idiot?" said a raven-haired boy coldly. "I bet he overslept. We could be here for a few hours." He said as he fell back against a tree, arms crossed and a stern frown. It was a bright day as Kouji Minamoto waited in the park with Kouichi, Zoe, J.P., and Tommy. Kouji was now sixteen and a Sophomore in high school. He'd grown into a thin but muscular frame. His body was defined and healthy. This could be attributed to his vigorous training in Kendo. Kouji lived with Kousei Minamoto, his birth father, and his stepmother, Satomi. Kouji has learned to respect and accept his stepmother, with the help of Kouichi and Kousei. He and Kouichi spent every weekend living at each other's residence, alternating every week. He was wearing a blue plaid button-down shirt over a white T-shirt with the Kanji symbol for light in the middle in royal blue. He had on dark jeans, despite the warm, sunny day, and white and navy blue street shoes. Kouji still wore his long raven hair in a small pony tail under a navy blue and grey bandanna. He still possesses his famous "lone wolf" traits and is still pessimistic. He has become the target of quite a few girls at school, though he has no interest in any of them.

It has been four years since the time they spent in the Digital World and a lot has changed around them, but the Legendary Warriors still shared a strong bond. . It was the twins' birthday today and they were supposed to have been out on the town already, if it weren't for the absence of a certain goggle-headed leader.

"He'll be here soon! He didn't oversleep!" replied Tommy. Tomoki "Tommy" Himi was now thirteen years old and in 8th grade. He'd skipped a grade. He'd grown substantially over the last four years, but was still skinny even for his age. While he wasn't as athletic as the rest of the boys, he'd found his place as a baseball player. He was the leadoff hitter and center fielder for his school. Now he wore an amber orange vest-jacket unzipped over a white shirt with a sea-green snowflake on the front. He wore baggy ¾ green cargo shorts and in place of his goofy old hat, he replaced it with a green and white baseball cap. He wears green and white shoes that match his hat. Over the last four years, Tommy has become a very mature teenager and has become less spoiled. He holds a better relationship with his big brother, Yutaka, now and doesn't cling to his parents. He has grown most closely to Takuya out of the Warriors, as Takuya is like a second big brother to him.

"Sorry, pipsqueak, but I think you may be wrong about your hero this time." J.P. retorted. Junpei "J.P." Shibayama was now seventeen years old and a Junior in high school. The oldest of the group, he was like a big brother to the entire group and was instinctively protective of all of them. He was always there to talk them through life and problems and was always keeping them in check with their school work. His infatuation with Zoe had passed and he is now a very popular guy. He's lost weight since the Digital World as well. He still possesses a large frame that has been filled out with mostly muscle. He used his size to his advantage, starting at center on their school's basketball team. He has also begun to grow out his facial hair, keeping it well-kept and clean. His beard was neatly shaved into a goatee and his side burns were shaved thin. Ditching the sky blue jumpsuit, J.P. now wears a sky blue basketball jersey, khaki cargos, and electric blue shoes with yellow bolts.

"Hey! I'm not that short anymore!" Tommy complained. "I'm taller than Zoe!" he pointed to the blonde girl standing between Kouichi and Kouji. Izumi "Zoe" Orimoto was now sixteen as well and a Sophomore in high school. Being the only girl in the group, the guys are very overprotective of her. A lot of guys are afraid to get close to her simply because of her "bodyguards." Their protective instinct isn't completely unreasonable, however. Zoe has turned into a stunning girl. She isn't self-conscious anymore and has changed the snobby traits that made her an outcast at school. Her hair flows down her back in the same way and her eyes are still the unique shade of aqua they always were. However, she has grown into her body and her curves were now defined and well-developed. She replaced her old hat with a magenta beret that rested simply on the top of her head. She wore a grey off-the-shoulder top over a lilac tank top, white Capri pants, and lilac-and-white kicks. She loved her best friends, but sometimes really did wish she had another girl in the group as well.

"You're right, Tommy." Zoe said, "but you're still the youngest." She teased. "Besides, J.P.'s right. Takuya is probably sound asleep right now. I feel sorry for his mother. Can you imagine trying to raise him?" She giggled.

"I'd probably end up wondering where I went wrong." Kouichi Chimed in. Everyone laughed. Kouichi Kimura was sixteen as well and also a Sophomore. He had become the smartest of the group, as well as someone to come to for advice. He also served as the peacemaker between his twin, Kouji, and Takuya when they started butting heads. Along with being smart, Kouichi also turned out to be really friendly and popular. He is extroverted and willing to accept new people. He lives with his birth mother, Tomoko Kimura, and her boyfriend, Ken Matsuzaka. Kouichi thinks he's kind and has no problems with him. Kouji, on the other hand, has remained hostile toward Ken. He has turned into a bit of a momma's boy. Kouichi's hair remains pretty much the same, though without the hat. He wears glasses that give him an aura of knowledge and intelligence and wears a grey cardigan buttoned ¾ of the way over a white T-shirt and black jeans, as well as black skate shoes.

"Speak of the devil…" said J.P. as they turned to see Takuya sprinting toward their meeting spot, huffing and puffing.

"Well, look who decided to show up half an hour late." Kouji glared "Nice hair." Everyone burst out laughing at the sight of their friend's hair, standing straight up in one spot, matted down in another, and shooting out to the side on one side. "Just wake up?" he smirked. For best friends, Kouji and Takuya had a "love-hate" relationship. If they weren't insulting each other and taking shots at one another, something was wrong.

"Ha ha." Takuya said "For your information, I purposely left my hair like this." He lied. "Why should I care what others think of me?" he said.

"That's touching." Zoe said in fake admiration. "Is that why you're wearing two different socks as well?" she pointed to his mismatched feet. Once again, the group chuckled while Takuya glared.

"Okay," J.P. broke in. "I think it's obvious that Takky has had a rough morning. Let's get going. We can't forget the special occasion for which we've put aside this day, after all."

"Stop calling me that!" Takuya yelled.

"No chance, Takky." J.P. said, with extra emphasis on his nickname for his bud.

"By the way, Takuya, we voted that you're paying for lunch because you were late." Zoe said. "I hope you brought your wallet." Takuya just moaned as they walked out of the park. And with that, they set off, completely unaware of what lie ahead of them as their second home was in a state of crisis.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was a pretty boring chapter, I know. I basically just gave a rundown of what's happening in the Digital World then went into the whole intro thing with the canon characters. Basically, I just wanted to reintroduce them phyiscally and like what they're wearing.

This story is going to be hopping around from the canon Warriors, to some Digimon, to my OCs for a majority of chapters.

Next chapter my OCs get introduced and their background, as well as why they didn't go to the Digital World the first time around. It will probably go somewhat against canon, but it's for a purpose, I swear.

You can also expect to hear more from Datamon, Bokomon and Neemon as they scheme to break out of Digi-jail.

Expect updates anywhere from 1 week to 1 month, though I'll try to keep it consistent. Mostly 1-2 weeks, maybe some quicker if I get a writing streak of some sort. It's the only story I'm currently working on, so it shouldn't be too long for each update.


	3. Chapter 2: The Buildup to a New Journey

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I don't own any of the characters that appeared in any of the Digimon seasons. I do, however, own my OCs and the plot of this story.

Author's Note: My first 3 OCs get introduced in this chapter. Brief introduction, banter, a little tiny bit of backstory, nothing major. 2 More will be introduced shortly, and the last...well..that's kind of classified.

First battle scene takes place in this chapter, be it very brief. I'm still working on improving that aspect of my writing and it will hopefully get better as the story goes on.

I need to point out a mistake I made in Chapter 1. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I wrote it, maybe it was just really late. I had made an incredibly stupid error that was so blatantly obvious that I can't believe it took me a week after publication to catch. I'd said it was Kouichi's birthday. Of course Kouji and Kouichi are twins, so unless Kouichi and Kouji were born at 11:00-11:59 and then 12:00-1:00 at night, this was incredibly stupid. Sure I could have avoided it by making up some kind of tradition they had come up with like dedicating two days to the birthday boys, one to each of them, or something, but I felt it was best to own up to my incredibly dumb mistake.

By the way, if I fail to describe a digimon in-depth in my writing and you feel you would like to see the Digimon yourself, or whatever, feel free to visit Digimon Wiki and look up the Digimon. I find it extremely difficult to capture the image of certain Digimon sometimes. (i.e. Ghoulmon.)

Sorry this is a day or two over the 2 week time period I said I'd try to keep. I couldn't find an adequate stopping spot. I'm still not satisfied with how I ended this chapter, but I felt holding off any longer would open a window for me to start lazing off.

Pronunciations of OC characters:

Sayuri Etsuko - Sai-yoo-ree Et-Soo-Ko

Shirou Nakahara -She-ro Nah-Kah-Hah-Ra

Hanako Ushiba - Hah-nah-ko U-She-Bah

Anyways, without further ado, enjoy and remember to review! Your critique is extremely appreciated.

* * *

It was a bright, sunny day as Hanako Ushiba sat under a tree, enjoying the shade and the slight breeze that swept through her lime green hair, swaying her long ponytail back and forth. She looked up to the sky and shaded her saffron eyes with her hand, blocking out the blazing sun. Hanako, or "Hana" as she was referred to as her friends, was a 14-year-old girl who was at the tail end of her 8th grade year. She was wearing a simple sleeveless white blouse that fluttered gently with the breeze and jeans and had been wearing white flipflops until she had removed them to allow her feet to absorb the feeling of the soft soil beneath her. Unlike most girls, she loved the feeling of the dirt at her feet. It was comforting to her. She couldn't explain why, it just did. She could just lose herself in thought when the weather was like this. She wished it would be like this year round, but that's never the case in Shibuya.

As she dozed lazily under her tree, a group of five teenagers caught her eye. Four boys and one girl were gathered around near a tree not far from her own, seemingly waiting on something or someone. The raven-haired boy who was leaning against the tree looked a few years older than her, his dark hair tied in a ponytail much shorter than hers under a bandanna. His cobalt eyes wore an intimidating glare and his mouth was in a scowl. He seemed to be ticked off by whatever seemed to be holding them up. The girl next to him was beautiful. Her hair was golden blonde and flowed down her back. On top of her hair was a fancy magenta beret. She stood like a model and judging by her womanly body, she was around the same age as the boy. As she shifted her eyes to the boy on the other side of the girl, Hana was forced to do a double take. This boy looked exactly like the one against the tree, but had shorter hair and no bandanna. He also looked a lot less angry and seemed to be enjoying himself. _They must be twins or something. _thought Hana. Her eyes shifted again to the third boy in this group. He seemed to be the oldest in the group. He was tall and muscular and wore a basketball jersey. His chestnut hair matched a neatly shaven goatee on his chin. He was now teasing another boy in the group. This boy seemed to be about Hana's age and was wearing a baseball cap that covered his brown hair. He had green eyes that lit up like those of a child. He was skinny and it made him look even younger, hanging out with people that were at least two years older than him. _For a little guy, he's kind of cute _Hana thought to herself. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing and giggling about something. Even the boy with the ponytail flashed a few smirks.

They all shifted their gazes toward her as she looked behind herself, confused as to what they were looking at. One thing got her attention immediately. A boy, about the same age as the group she'd been observing, was sprinting rapidly toward them, his hair a complete mess under a hat with a goofy pair of goggles and wearing two different socks. He must have just woken up. As he dashed past her, he began to slow down. He was keeled over, panting tiredly. The group was obviously commenting on his fashionable lastness now, as they were all laughing and he was just glaring. She heard the oldest boy say something to the late boy, and he responded angrily. Apparently the older boy had a pet name for him, and he was none too pleased about it. As they began to leave the park, the blonde girl said something, resulting in a moan from the late boy. She watched them until they were out of sight.

"Earth to Hana!" a voice brought her back to earth. Hana looked over to the source, her friend Sayuri Etsuko. The girl had crimson red hair cut to shoulder length and tied in red and white bows. Her Scarlet eyes matched her hair perfectly. She had a vibrant red skirt on and an untucked white blouse. She had black leggings under her skirt and red Converse hi-top shoes. Sayuri was sixteen, a sophomore in high school. While they were two years apart, they were extremely close. Sayuri was like a big sister to Hana, though sometimes Hana wondered about Sayuri. Sayuri went to the same grade school as Hana and protected her from being picked on six years ago. She took Hana under her wing and turned her into a capable girl who could stand up to herself. Since then, they've held a special bond.

"You are really out of it today, huh." said the voice of her friend Shirou Nakahara.

"Shut up, Shirou!" Hana shot back. "I was just daydreaming!" Shirou was seventeen years old. He was extremely smart and was a good problem solver. He always had answers for issues that Sayuri and Hana had. He was funny and laid back and his sarcasm was always refreshing and witty. He had light brown hair that fell messily over his head and eyes that matched hidden behind semi-rimless glasses with rectangular lenses. He was wearing a red sleeveless shirt, black athletic shorts, and black sandals.

"Daydreaming about that boy you were staring at?" Sayuri said with a devilish smirk on her face.

"What boy?" Hana asked, a little more defensively than she intended.

"The young one in that group that just walked out." She said. She'd been watching Hana the entire time.

"I wasn't staring at him!" Hana said, blushing "I was just observing them. They _were_ making a lot of noise, afterall." She explained. "Besides, that kid was like three years younger than me! What do you think I am?" she asked

"He was maybe a year younger than you, hon." Sayuri teased. "It's alright to admit it. We're all mature here."

"'Mature' wouldn't be the first word I'd use to describe you, Sayuri." Hana shot back. Shirou was snickering and Sayuri slugged Hana in the shoulder playfully. They sat there for a long while until finally Shirou looked at his phone.

"Damn it! It's already 3:30!" he exclaimed. "I gotta run guys! My dad's gonna kill me if I'm not home to help him with the renovations!"

"Renovations?" Hana asked. "You guys having work done on your house again?

"Yeah, he woke up one day with this _genius_ idea to turn the old nursery into some sort of workout room," Shirou explained "as if he were gonna use it."

"Maybe it's for you." Sayuri said. "You are pretty weak, after all."

"Shut up!" Shirou exclaimed "I'm perfectly strong!"

"Whatever." She retorted "Don't you think you should get home before Daddy gets angry and we don't see you for another month?" At that, Shirou nodded, waved goodbye, and took off towards Shibuya Station.

"Well, I better get going too." Hana said "Mom wants me home to work the dinner rush at the restaurant tonight." She explained.

"Dang, it must really suck to be the daughter of a restaurant owner." Sayuri said.

"Eh, it has its perks" Hana responded. "You learn how to cook pretty well."

"Oh I know that." Sayuri said. "You're a great cook!"

"You only think that because you can't work a microwave." Hana giggled.

"How was I supposed to know metal can't go in the microwave?" Sayuri whined. "Just go home already! Leave me here to die of boredom!" She teased as she hugged Hana goodbye. "I'll probably come by the restaurant later to entertain you during your shift!" she called as Hana waved goodbye and headed off.

* * *

"You three must get out of here immediately!" said Paladin Imperialdramon. "Your safety is imminent in the survival of the Digital World and the counter attack against these Dark Triad clowns!" The Mega-level Royal Knight founder and his six remaining allies were guiding Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon to the secret Trailmon Escape route in the Celestial Castle as a cataclysmic war ensued around them. The entire roof of the castle had been torn from its place, pillars of fire and smoke bellowing up to the sky above.

"But Imperialdramon!" started Salamon "There isn't a chance that you guys survive when half the Royal Knights have turned against us! They have a whole army out there!"

"Don't worry about that, Salamon!" said Omnimon. "The main priority right now is your safety."

"We could always warp digivolve to our Mega levels and fight back, though!" Lopmon protested. Getting them onto the Trailmon was not going to be an easy task for the seven remaining Royal Knights, even if they were just rookies right now.

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Gallantmon "We can't risk losing any of you to the dark forces! Don't you remember the last time?" Lopmon frowned in shame, remembering all the problems he'd caused when he'd been possessed by Lucemon's dark power.

"Now get out of here!" insisted Alphamon. "We don't have time to argue this! They'll find us in a matter of minutes!"

"Don't worry about us." said Magnamon gently. "We can hold our own."

"But even if we do go," Patamon began, "What happens if they intercept our Trailmon?" The Knights pondered this possibility. Surely the Dark Triad had anticipated an attempt to smuggle the Celestial Angels out of the castle.

"Patamon could be right." said Ulforce Veedramon "We don't know who's watching the rails right now or even where they'll go at the end of the line, seeing as the last time it ended up in an undersea cave."

"Perhaps one of us should stay with them," began Rapidmon "In case something goes amiss." After considering amongst themselves for the few minutes they had to spare, they chose to send Magnamon along with the Celestial Angels. The three angels and the knight boarded the Trailmon and just as the door slammed shut, there was a loud crash.

"Laser Lattice!"

"Breath of Wyvern!"

"Pendragon's Glory!"

"Black Aura Blast!"

"Shock Ringer!"

"Inferno Frost!"

The six attacks of the now-evil Royal Knights raced toward their former partners.

"Positron Laser!"

"Supreme Cannon!"

"Digitalize Soul!"

"Final Purification!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Ray of Victory!"

The two massive waves of attacks met with extreme power. The force created a massive explosion, resulting in a cloud of smoke and cutting Magnamon and the Celestial Angels off from their protectors. As the Trailmon began to pull away and the smoke cleared, a massive battle ensued. Crusadermon battled fiercely with Paladin Imperialdramon. Kentaurosmon had Rapidmon pinned to the floor with his massive hoof. Dynasmon and Gallantmon exchanged blows. Omnimon squared off with the defensive-minded Craniamon in a stalemate. Alphamon was engaged with Leopardmon. Ulforce Veedramon had risen to the skies to take on Examon. They struck back and forth intensely above the rest. Eight knights battled on at ground level and Ulforce Veedramon continued to battle Examon in the sky, but Alphamon was gone and Leopardmon lay crumpled and unconscious. Suddenly, Examon rose high above Ulforce Veedramon and launched hundreds of explosive shells from his mighty cannon. The evil knights scattered and left the good knights confused. The sky was showered with the bombs as they began latching onto the Royal Knights below. Simultaneously, the bombs exploded with shattering impact. Each of the knights was thrown to the ground, struggling to gather the strength to defend against the reappearing enemies, as Ulforce Veedramon darted toward Examon at top speed. Examon narrowly evaded the charge and took aim at Ulforce Veedramon's back.

"Pendragon's Glory!" the mighty dragon roared as a crimson ray of energy burst out of his arm cannon. The ray streaked toward Ulforce Veedramon, who was completely thrown off balance after his failed attack. The beam was about to annihilate Ulforce Veedramon.

"No!" cried the angels in unison, beating at the door, as Imperialdramon sped toward the beam at full speed. Everything seemed to slow as Imperialdramon cut the beam off. It crashed straight through his chest as there was a collective gasp. He seemed to hang up in the air as his body absorbed the entire blast, then began plummeting back down to his defeated allies. The Trailmon was already well on its way and the castle was fading out of view as they saw one more black dot plummet toward the ground.

"It was what they were meant to do." Magnamon said softly. "I only wish I could be there with them; fighting against the forces of evil." He said. His voice was distant and cold. His mind was miles away, focusing on the final act of deception he'd just witnessed. _How could they do something like that_ he thought, anger swelling inside him. _We were brought together to protect this world, not enslave it!_ It hurt him to feel so helpless, but Magnamon knew it was for the best. He got the angels to calm down and eventually fall asleep, as their young bodies weren't meant to deal with such stress.

He sat in silence, reflecting on the final orders Paladin Imperialdramon had given him. _Those three Digimon decide the fate of the world. Their safety means more than __**all **__of our lives combined. I believe in you Magnamon. Make sure they get to safety. Salamon will relay a message to the real world and call forth the Legendary Warriors. We'll meet again someday, be it as allies or enemies, but I ask you that if it may be as enemies, put your all into defeating me. Do not hold back. It's for the best. _He couldn't let Imperialdramon down. His ally's sacrifices would not be in vain. He knew that he had to do everything in his power to get these three rookie-level Digimon to safety at all costs. The fate of two worlds depended on it.

* * *

"Nearly everything went as planned." said NeoDevimon "The remaining Royal Knights are, well, no longer remaining." He laughed maniacally. "We've taken Gallantmon, Ulforce Veedramon, Rapidmon, and Omnimon prisoner and Ebemon is in the process of manipulating their minds as we speak." He reported with a devious smirk.

"That's only four." Astamon said, frowning.

"Well, yeah." NeoDevimon muttered.

"What happened to the other _three_?" Astamon demanded through clenched teeth.

"Well, you see," NeoDevimon began. "Magnamon wasn't there to fight. He must be off with the little runts."

"And by runts, you mean the Celestial Angels." Astamon said sternly. "So I take it that you failed to secure them as well." His frown had turned to a glare. "We must have different interpretations of 'nearly everything' because so far you've failed your two tasks." Astamon said heatedly.

"Now, hold on a second." NeoDevimon said. "I wasn't done." He smirked, pointed teeth gleaming. "Alphamon was there at the battle, but must have left the others behind because he knocked out Leopardmon and then disappeared."

"I don't see why you're smirking about that!" Astamon roared, temper flaring.

"That's not what I'm smirking about, you hot-headed moron." NeoDevimon said, shrugging off an ice-cold stare and cracking a wide smile. "What I'm smirking about," he said with excitement "is that Examon _killed_ Paladin Imperialdramon."

"How did that happen?" Astamon said. His mood completely changed.

"Well, he wasn't trying to kill him or anything." NeoDevimon began. "He was aiming for UlForce Veedramon, but Imperialdramon sacrificed himself."

"What an imbecile!" Astamon laughed hysterically. "I planned on just enslaving him as well, then taking him out when his service was no longer needed. He just made things easy on us." While NeoDevimon and Astamon shared an insane laugh over the death of the Royal Knights' founder, a cloaked figure shuffled into the room.

"Ah!" said NeoDevimon. "Look who we have here, Astamon. He finally decided to show up!"

"Yes. How nice of you to finally make an appearance, Phelesmon." said Astamon. The figure threw his cloak over his shoulder, revealing his true form. Phelesmon was a vampire-like devil ultimate-level Digimon.

"How is the production of the Aphotic Acid? Did everything go as planned?" asked NeoDevimon

"Fine." reported Phelesmon coldly. His voice was completely blank and his stare was distant. With that, he threw the cloak back over himself and walked out. He made no attempt to say good bye, just as he did not say hello.

"Please remind me why we have to be stuck with such a mindless, emotionless outcast." complained NeoDevimon.

"Because, that 'mindless, emotionless outcast' has a power that no other Digimon in the world has and he'll only ensure our domination." Astamon replied with a tone of annoyance. _For such an evil mastermind, he's such an idiot sometimes. _He thought. "How else would we get the Aphotic Acid?" As NeoDevimon considered this, Ebemon stormed into the room in hysteria.

"Boss! Boss!" He cried "He's betrayed us! He's breaking the prisoners out!"

"What?" Astamon asked, enraged. "Who? How?"

"That little robot you enslaved from the Autumn Fair, Datamon!" Ebemon squealed.

"What?" NeoDevimon and Astamon roared simultaneously as both their glances darted toward the monitors. Each monitor seemed normal. No suspicious activity could be seen in any of them. Bokomon stood in his cell, banging his head against a wall in defeat. Neemon just slept. Both Megas returned their glances to Ebemon.

"What is the meaning of this, Ebemon?" said Astamon. "Do you see anything out of the ordinary here?" he indicated toward the screens.

"That's a trick, Boss!" Ebemon screeched. "That little robot set every one of those cameras to record, made recordings, and played the recordings on loop! He broke them out while the cameras were looping the recordings!" Ebemon was panting in excitement and fear as he watched a feral expression overcome Astamon. NeoDevimon darted to the control panel for the P.A. system and smashed the glass that protected a big red button that said _Emergency_.

"Catch those twerps!" NeoDevimon said in rage as he threw Ebemon into the hallway.

* * *

"Emergency! Emergency!" blared the intercom as Datamon led Bokomon and Neemon through the maze that was the dungeon of the Dark Triad's base. They darted through narrow hallways, ducking into dark corners to evade security. "We are experiencing a lockdown. We are experiencing a lockdown. All exits will be locked in ten minutes." The intercom blared as red lights lit up the hallway.

"Damn!" cried Datamon. "We need to pick up the pace, or things are going to get real difficult." He said as they dove into a closet to their right. Minotaurumon stomped through the hall, searching for the fugitives. When the coast cleared they continued their escape, diving out of sight when the occasional guard appeared. Time was ticking as the lockdown was a mere three minutes away.

"We're never going to make it!" cried Bokomon dramatically. "We're doomed!" Neemon just whined alongside his pal.

"Would both of you just shut up! They're going to catch us!" scolded Datamon. "We're going to be fine. We only have about a minute and a half to get to the main floor or we're going to have to detour." As Datamon turned to continue, an ugly fiendish Cyclops rose up through the floor in front of him.

"Ghoulmon?" shrieked Bokomon. The creature's giant eye blinked slowly as it glared at the fugitives.

"Death Arrow." He said in a ghastly voice. He raised both of his three-pronged hands, revealing smaller eyeballs. The eyes glowed red and crimson arrows shot toward the trio.

"Data Crusher!" cried Datamon as a giant barrier appeared in front of them, absorbing the attack. Datamon thrust his arms forward, launching the barrier toward Ghoulmon.

"Explosive eye." He said eerily as his main eye glowed red and a similar red beam burst from it. The beam struck the barrier, breaking it to pieces.

"Digital Bomb!" cried Datamon as he launched several virus bombs from his fingers. The bombs darted toward Ghoulmon. Just as they were about to make contact, the fiend disappeared. The three looked around frantically, confused as to where their enemy could have gone.

"Explosive eye!" roared Ghoulmon's voice from behind. The beam raced toward them faster than Bokomon or Neemon could react to. As the beam was about to obliterate them, Datamon jumped in front.

"Data Crusher!" he cried as he set up yet another barrier. "Listen up you two." He said imperatively. "Get out of here fast. You're not going to make it to the next level in time, so follow these instructions carefully. You cannot mess this up." He spoke quickly with a burden in his voice as he tried to keep his barrier up. "Keep going down this hall. At the very first right you see, go left. Regardless of what you see, go left. It'll look like a solid wall, but turn left at the exact point where the right turn is. It's a mirage. You can go straight through it and into a secret hallway only I know about." He said, his struggle growing more difficult. "That will take you directly out of here if you just follow it exactly. It will also end in what will look like a dead end. Walk through the wall directly ahead of you, and you'll be out of this hellhole. Got that?" he ask. Bokomon nodded as Neemon just stood there. "Good. Now scram. I can't hold this much longer."

Bokomon and Neemon took off down the hallway. As they approached the first right turn in the hall, they made the left turn Datamon instructed them to make. Just as he said, it looked like a solid wall, but like he said, it was a mirage. They walked straight through the wall, into the secret passage way. They followed the winding path for twenty minutes before it came to an abrupt end after a right turn. Bokomon took a deep breath and dragged Neemon through the fake wall and into the moonlight.

It was late at night. Bokomon had no way of telling how late it was, other than looking at the moons. They were all visible and all were relatively close to each other. It must've been just after midnight. Bokomon took off running, dragging Neemon with him. _I need to get us as far away from here as possible. _He thought to himself. Since he had no idea where he was, he just assumed he was in Earth region because the land was barren and dry. _I suppose this could be any of the regions, however._ He thought to himself. _They are all falling apart after all. Fire Region looked similar to this prior to my capture. _In his thought, he was completely unaware of his surroundings as he walked straight into something. He fell to the ground, coming back to reality.

"Hey! Watch where you're-" The creature began as he turned around. "Oh! It's you guys!" Bokomon looked up at the source of the familiar voice. The voice came from a human-like Digimon made entirely of rocks.

"Oh thank heavens!" cried Bokomon. "We've found a friendly face! You have no idea how excited I am to see you, Gotsumon!" he said in relief.

"You guys look pretty roughed up." Gotsumon observed. "What happened?" Bokomon spent the next hour explaining as they trudged through the region Gotsumon had informed them was the Forest Region. As Bokomon summed up the events of the past day, they came across what used to be Gotsumon village. The only remaining part of the village was one home, in which all of the Gotsumon were living now. They took shelter in the home as dawn approached. While Neemon snored away, Bokomon couldn't even think about sleeping. They had to make it to Toucan Paradise before the Celestial Angels to ensure their safety.

"You should really get some sleep, Bokomon." Gotsumon said. Bokomon hadn't even realized he was still awake. "You won't make it very far without the energy." Bokomon had too much on his mind to sleep, but Gotsumon was right.

"I suppose so." He said. "Neemon and I need to leave first thing tomorrow morning, however. We need to get to Toucan Paradise as soon as possible and we still need to figure out how to get there." He explained. Gotsumon thought for a minute.

"I think I could get you two there." He said "I'd have to consult a friend of mine, of course."

"Could you really?" Bokomon said, his eyes lighting up. "I couldn't thank you enough, Gotsumon!" It was like a burden was taken off Bokomon's shoulders, because with that, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

As he slept, however, Astamon and NeoDevimon plotted away at their headquarters. "We will get them back, Astamon." assure NeoDevimon. "There's no way they've gotten out of the castle. It is completely locked down."

"There was also 'no way' they would get out of their cells," Astamon began, annoyed, "but that didn't stop them."

"They had inside help with that." NeoDevimon said. "We don't have to worry about that anymore." He grinned evilly. "We'll get them. Even if they did make it out of the castle, I have our newly acquired pawns combing the world as we speak. Examon, Dynasmon, and Crusadermon are searching by air, the rest by land. We'll have them by noon tomorrow."

* * *

Kentaurosmon stomped through the ruined village and Examon flew overhead, knocking down everything in their wake. Gotsumon fled in all directions and some were slaughtered by the Knights.

"Where are they?" Examon demanded of a nearby Gotsumon that was cowering in a corner.

"Who?" The Gotsumon replied, his voice quivering.

"You know exactly who we're looking for." Examon roared.

"I don't know!" The Gotsumon proclaimed in tears.

"Useless!" Scowled Examon as he jabbed his lance threw the Gotsumon's body. He tossed the limp body to the side and interrogated several others, each also meeting their end, until he got the information.

"They left with another Gotsumon about four hours ago!" cried the Gotsumon as he wimpered in fear.

"Where?" Examon roared, his eyes blazing with anger.

"I think they were heading to the coast! I think I heard something about Toucan Paradise!" the Gotsumon was in tears, completely broken down. Examon showed no mercy or gratitude toward the Gotsumon, however, tossing him sky high and walking away. He approached Kentaurosmon.

"We're leaving." He said urgently. "Now!" he yelled, angered by Kentaurosmon's slow reaction to the command. "The fugitives have been gone for hours. We don't have time to be standing around, you moron!" he spat. The insult seemed to hit a switch in Kentaurosmon's brain. He picked up Examon by the throat and slammed him against the mountain in which the Gotsumon's last house stood.

"What did you say?" he said, grunting in Examon's face. "You don't run things around here. You're lucky I don't flatten you here, you worthless snake." With that, he released Examon's throat and galloped away from the Gotsumon village. Examon lay on the ground, shocked by the violent reaction from the usually calm and emotionless Kentaurosmon.


	4. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon. Whoever may have told I did is sadly mistaken.;(

Author's Note: Gah this was a hard chapter to write. I struggled to get everything in order and it ended up being 2/3 boring. I got stuck at one point and stared at this for like a week straight before I actually continued because it was hard to get everything together and fitting properly. I still think a lot of this could have been done better and I hope in the future it will turn out a lot nicer.

A few things you may want to note before reading:

onigiri - rice ball

chazuke - hot water or tea poured over cooked rice and a variety of toppings can be added. In this case, salmon.

kare raisu - Rice curry

kamikaze roll - a kind of sushi roll

unagi roll - eel sushi

hayashi raisu - a Japanese beef stew

Ramune - Japanese citrus soda

Soba - In this case, it's a noodle soup

Jūrokucha - a soft drink consisting of a blend of several teas.

Bento box - boxed meal that contains rice, pickled vegetables, and meat/fish.

Last, but certainly not least, Read and Review please! I want feedback! I want to know how to better my writing!

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

The streets of Shibuya were still live with people as the gang strolled down the street. Takuya and Kouji were bickering over who would win if they fought each other in their fusion spirit forms, Aldamon and Beowolfmon. The conversation was beginning to get heated, like usual, and Zoe and Kouichi just sighed. They knew what was coming, and they knew they'd have to intervene before Kouji and Takuya caused a scene _again_.

"I'd kick your ass, pretty boy!" Takuya smirked. "My Solar Wind Destroyer would scorch you and your precious golden locks. Seriously, where did those even come from?" he jeered. Kouji's cheeks flushed with rage and embarrassment and his body was stiff as a board. His eyes burned holes in Takuya, then he realized something.

"Wait a minute." He said, flashing a quick smile. "You're blond when you're Aldamon too, you airheaded moron." Takuya looked dumbfounded. This was completely new to him. The look on his face was crossed between disbelief and confusion. He put his hand to his chin, as if trying to concentrate.

"No way!" he said loudly. "You're just yanking my chain because you have that goofy blond hair when you fusion evolve." He said obliviously.

"You know," Zoe cut in. "_I'm_ blonde." Kouji and Takuya both flushed awkwardly.

"Well…" Takuya started.

"Yeah…but…" Kouji tried to continue.

"It's not like we meant…." Takuya stuttered.

"I'm kidding." She smiled, laughing at the boys' discomfort. They loosened up and the color returned to their face.

"Kouji's right, Takky." J.P. said "You _are _blond when you're Aldamon, and for that matter, Agunimon as well. It's not you're color, either." Takuya made a groaning sound signaling his defeat.

"Yeah." Zoe cut in. "At least with Kouji, it looks good." Kouji's face, which had just returned to normal, was flushing again and he averted his gaze.

"Aw." J.P. said, catching him red-handed. "What's the matter, Kouji?" he teased.

"_Shut up_." Kouji said, his eyes cutting through J.P. like knives. Takuya and J.P. snickered.

"Kouji's embarrassed! Kouji's embarrassed!" Tommy rang out childishly. Kouji's glare changed its focus to Tommy as he sang out.

"Now guys," Kouichi said playfully. "Leave my dear twin brother alone. The last thing we need is to call for an ambulance tonight." Everyone laughed and even Kouji's heart lightened a little.

"Well, would you look at that." Zoe said. "We're here! Time really does fly when you're having fun." They stopped outside a small family diner.

"I hope you still have money left, Takky!" J.P. said.

"What are you talking about?" He said. "I'm not paying for you pigs for dinner too!" he whined.

"Fine." Kouji smirked. "You're going to have to admit that Beowolfmon would crush Aldamon with his Frozen Hunter, though."

"Fat chance." Takuya answered as they all walked into the diner laughing. The restaurant was nothing fancy, but it was something affordable for simple teenagers like them. There were booths against the walls and a bar in the middle of the restaurant. It was fairly crowded at this time of day, roughly 6:30.

"Hi!" said a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length lime green hair and saffron eyes. "You'll be seated in just a moment, okay?" she said sweetly. "Hana! We have customers!" she yelled to the back as a girl with lime green hair and the same saffron eyes, who was right around Tommy's age, came bustling through the door to the kitchen. She was wearing an apron over casual clothing.

"Right this way please!" she said enthusiastically, but stopped when she saw her customers. She stared, wide-eyed for a moment.

"Hana?" her mother said, bringing her back to earth. Kouichi raised a brow. _That was odd. I wonder if anyone else noticed._ He thought to himself. The girl, Hana apparently, seated them in a booth in the corner of the restaurant against the windowed wall, behind a trio of teenagers that looked about their age, and gave each of them a menu before bustling off to the kitchen. He stared at the door curiously for a moment before being brought back down to earth by J.P.'s voice.

"What about you, Kouichi?" He asked.

"Huh?" Kouichi responded, completely lost.

"What do you mean 'huh'?" J.P. asked, a confused look spreading across his face. "What are you ordering?" Kouichi gazed down at the menu at his place. He hadn't even acknowledged it yet. He was too distracted by their waitress's reaction to them.

"Oh. I don't know yet," Kouichi said, rubbing the back of his head. "I haven't even opened my menu yet." A jovial half-smile appeared on his face. They just looked at him quizzically. Kouji's gaze said 'What's on your mind, bro?' Sometimes the whole twin telepathy thing really irked Kouichi. Whenever he had something on his mind, regardless of how well he masked it, Kouji could always tell. While it was convenient when he could use it, it seemed like such an invasion of privacy when Kouji used it.

"Well hurry up and choose!" Takuya blurted. "We don't have all day." He grumbled as his stomach let out a low rumble. His face flushed at the amused stares he was getting. "You expect me to believe I'm the ONLY one starving here?" He said, getting a chortle from his friends.

"You're always hungry, Takuya." Tommy said. "Besides, nobody else has made up their mind either."

"Well hurry up, before I die of starvation." He pouted. Kouji still hadn't taken his eyes off Kouichi while Zoe, J.P., and Takuya made a bet over who could eat the most. The losers would have to split the winner's bill as well as pay for themselves. Tommy looked on amusedly, knowing he wouldn't stand a chance. J.P. and Takuya could eat entire cows by themselves and Zoe, even though she looked so good, ate like a pig when she was really hungry. The image of her eating 30 bowls of food at the Autumn Fair in the Digital World flashed through his mind. He giggled quietly at this.

Kouichi's mind fluttered away from his friends again as he watched the people at the booth next to them. There were two girls and a guy. The guy seemed to be maybe a year or two older. He had waves of shaggy brown hair which fell messily down his neck. He had green eyes. He wore a smirk that gave off an air of confidence, but not arrogance. Though he was seated, he seemed to be exceptionally tall. He looked fairly thin but muscular.

The girl across from him was facing away from their table, so Kouichi couldn't see her face. What he could see was powder blue hair that ran down her back in an elaborate braid. She sat straight up and she tilted her head slightly to the right, as if she was zoned out. The guy was talking, though she seemed to be miles away. Kouichi judged she was probably right around their age as well.

The other girl, sitting next to the guy, was also most likely right around their age. Kouichi looked her up and down. She had short dark hair with bangs that fell lightly over her eyes and her eyes were a deep shade of violet. She had a timid, modest smile on her face and her eyes glowed with warmth. Kouichi felt drawn to her dark eyes, and couldn't help but take in the sight of this girl. _She's really beautiful._ He thought to himself. The girl suddenly shifted her gaze to Kouichi, causing him to startle and look away, heat rising to his face. He peered at her through the corner of his eye to see her looking down, an embarrassed smile on her face. _I probably look like a creep right now. _He thought.

"Kouichi!" shouted Zoe. He snapped back to reality. "You're daydreaming again." She said, a worried look on her face. "Are you feeling alright?" Kouichi looked around at his friends. Takuya was still shuffling through his menu, planning his feast while J.P. was assisting him in his quest. Kouji wore an odd expression that said 'nice one, bro.' _He must know exactly what I was daydreaming about. _Kouichi though. He saw his brother raise his eyebrow in an amused manner and crack a smirk. Zoe was still waiting for a reply.

"Sorry about that." He started. "I'm feeling fine. I didn't mean to make you guys worry."

"Okay. Whatever." Zoe said, shaking it off. "Are you guys ready to order yet?"

"I've been ready for ages!" Takuya complained.

"I second that!" J.P. said.

"Yeah, whatever." Kouji replied cooly. Kouichi skimmed through the menu quickly and decided.

"Yeah. I'm ready." He said "What about you, Tommy?" He said, addressing Tommy. Now Tommy was staring off into space. Kouichi traced his gaze back to their waitress, who was seating an elderly couple. _How cute. _Kouichi thought.

"Come on, bud." J.P. said as he slapped his hand onto Tommy's shoulder. "You don't want to creep the nice girl out, do you?" he said smirking. Tommy looked down in embarrassment, avoiding his friends' gazes.

"Oh come on, J.P.!" Zoe said. "Leave Tommy alone!" Tommy smiled at Zoe's defense of him.

"Yeah!" Takuya cut in. "I'm proud of my little apprentice." He smirked. "You have pretty good tase!" He gave Tommy a 'thumbs-up' and a toothy smile.

"I'm shocked that you actually used the word 'apprentice' correctly." Kouji shot at Takuya.

"Shut up, wolf boy!" Takuya grumbled.

"If you ask me, I don't think he looks much like a wolf." The comment shocked the group, as they'd been so expectant of a scene to break out between Kouji and Takuya that they hadn't even realized their waitress had arrived at their table. She just smiled joyfully at them. "Are you guys ready to order now?" She said sweetly. The group had recoiled from the sudden burst into their conversation.

"Uh…Yeah." Takuya said, breaking their silence. "I think we are."

"Okay, great!" she replied. "What'll you guys have?" Takuya began with his incredibly large order.

"I'll have an order of onigiri, salmon chazuke, kare raisu, 3 kamikaze rolls, and 3 unagi rolls." He said, grinning. "Oh! And a rootbeer float!" he added. Hana struggled to write down the boy's incredibly large order, but eventually got it after she had him repeat it. She looked on to Zoe.

"I'll have the same as him." She smiled sweetly. Hana looked at her in shock, but shook off her disbelief and looked at J.P..

"Same as those two." He said, rubbing the back of his head, realizing they probably sounded like nutcases.

"This is gonna be a pretty big bill." Hana said, laughing. She looked to Tommy.

"Oh, don't worry." Tommy said. "I'm not a pig like them. I'll have three spicy tuna rolls and an order of hayashi raisu."

"Okay. No problem." Hana replied. "Anything to drink?"

"Ramune, please." He replied. Hana nodded and looked to Kouichi.

"Could I get an order of Soba, please?" he asked politely.

Hana noted it and asked "And to drink?"

"Jūrokucha, please." He said. Hana shifted her eyes to Kouji.

"A bento box with vegetable gyoza and salmon teriyaki, and coffee." He said.

"Cream or sugar?" she asked

"No thank you." He replied.

"Okay." Hana began. "I'll be right back with your drinks." She took off toward the kitchen and they returned to their chatter. Takuya was flaunting about how he was going to win their contest while Zoe and J.P. just rolled their eyes.

"Whatever you say, Takki." J.P. laughed. "I'll enjoy making you guys pay off that mighty meal you ordered yourselves into."

"Yeah right." Zoe said. "I'm going to win so easily." Kouji, Tommy, and Kouichi just sighed. _Why does eating always have to turn into a contest?_ Kouji thought. _My friends can be total idiots._ Kouichi giggled. _God I hate when he does that. Damn telepathy. _Kouichi grinned mischievously.

"It's so weird how you guys do that." Tommy observed. "How does it work? Is it like you're talking on the phone or something?"

"Nah," Kouichi began. "It's more like a feeling. We can't actually _read_ each other's mind. It's more like a puzzle that we have to put together. Sometimes it's really obvious. Other times it's not so easy."

"Most of the time we're just bashing Gogglehead anyways." Kouji cracked a smile.

"Hey, watch it, Wolfy!" Takuya glared.

"Takuya, you have the least intimidating glare I've ever seen." Kouji scoffed.

"Well sorry!" Takuya said overly exaggeratedly. "Unlike you, I don't spend 90% of the day scowling. I bet you even frown in your sleep." He chuckled. "I can picture it now." Kouji glared daggers into Takuya. "Man! That's bone-chilling. That must have taken years of practice." Takuya said smugly.

"I'd rather scowl than grin like a moron." Kouji shot back. The others looked at each other hopelessly.

"Guys, let's not make a scene today." Zoe said tiredly. "Can't we just have a decent meal together without you two chewing each other's head off?" she asked defeatedly.

"Zoe, it's all in good fun." Takuya grinned. "Me and Kouji have a love-hate relationship."

"I don't see much of the "love" part" Zoe muttered.

"Yeah, Z, relax." Kouji said. "There's no need for me to make Takuya look like an idiot. He does a pretty good job himself."

"Hey!" Takuya said as the rest laughed.

* * *

"Bokomon, it smells like fish in here!" cried Neemon as he sat next to his pal on the fleshy pink surface of Whamon's tongue.

"Well what did you expect, you nincompoop?" Bokomon scolded. Neemon contemplated the obviously rhetorical question.

"Something not so smelly." he whined.

"We're in a fish's mouth, not a flowershop." Bokomon said, bewildered by his friend's idiocy.

"Well," said the voice of their carrier. "Technically, I'm a mammal."

"Oh, please, _do forgive me." _Bokomon said sarcastically. The last few months have been a stressful time for Bokomon and his attitude has reflected it. Between the Digital World falling into shambles once more, being taken prisoner, and then becoming a fugitive, it's a wonder he has been able to keep himself together. Neemon, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the world around him, _as usual_.

"Ladies and Gentlemon, we'll be docking at Toucan Paradise shortly. Please prepare to be hurled dangerously into the air through my blowhole." Spoke Whamon.

"Oh, fantastic!" Bokomon said. "We'll meet up with the angels in no- Wait what?" he exclaimed.

"Have a nice flight." Whamon said as a rush of water flooded through his mouth and he launched the pair out of his blowhole. Bokomon shrieked as Neemon just sailed through the air mellowly. _Thud. _They hit the sand roughly and Bokomon stumbled to his feet dizzily.

"That was fun!" Neemon exclaimed. "We should do it more often." Bokomon cried out in anger and grasped Neemon's waistband.

"No! You! Nin-! –com-! –Poop!" he shrieked, snapping the waistband with each syllable.

"Owowowow." Neemon whimpered in pain.

"Stop your blubbering, Neemon!" Bokomon said. "We need to find the Toucanmon. They're probably waiting for us with the angels." Bokomon looked around. To his right was the calm sea, shimmering under the blazing sun. To the left was a lush tropical forest. Straight ahead was a rocky cliff. He turned around to see a large resort-like shack in the distance. "There we go!" Bokomon cried as he took off toward the Toucanmon resort, toting Neemon along with him by the waist band.

"Bokomon!" Neemon whined. "You're stretching my elastic!"

"Hush up!" Bokomon retorted. As they arrived in front of the resort, they saw three short bird-like Digimon with colorful beaks and still wearing the bottom half of their hatched shells relaxing at a bar inside the resort.

"There you two are!" cried the middle Toucanmon. "We've been waiting on you two!"

"You had Magnamon worried sick!" cried the one on the left.

"He's got the tikes fast asleep on one of the hammocks out back." Said the one on the right.

"Uhm…Magnamon?" asked Bokomon. "What on Earth would he be doing here? Shouldn't he be fighting?"

"Typically, yes." Said the voice of Magnamon, approaching with the three celestial angels in his arms. "We had decided that a body guard was needed for the celestials in case of emergency, though." He explained.

"Oh, of course." Said Bokomon. "I'm sure the other knights could survive without you anyways." Mangamon looked away and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be fine." He lied. A collective yawn from the rookies in his arms brought him back to earth. "Well, looks like they're awake." He said. The three angels sleepily opened their eyes and took in their surroundings. Lopmon and Salamon simply looked on tiredly, but two familiar faces brought Patamon into a state of elation.

"Papamon! Neemon!" Patamon said. "I haven't seen you in so long! I was so worried, Papamon!" he cried.

"I've missed you too Patamon, but this is no time for reunions!" Bokomon exclaimed. "We must hurry! We could have company any minute now. I'm sure that blasted Astamon will have cronies here soon, so we must get the call out to the children immediately!"

"Okay Papamon!" Patamon said. "We're on it!" he motioned toward the still-half-asleep Lopmon and Salamon. "You guys!" he cried. "Wakey Wakey!" he batted each of their faces with his bat-like wings. The two rookies snapped out of their sleeping trance and awaited direction. "Let's get ready." Patamon said.

"Right!" Lopmon and Salamon said in unison. The angels stood in a closely-knit triangle and each began to glow. Salamon turned a light shade of pink. Patamon was now shining blue. Lopmon was shining a peachy color. A bright orb of white energy formed between the tiny creatures as their looks of deep concentration hardened.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Examon, racing toward the resort. "Pendragon's Glory!" a red laser shot from his arm canon toward the angels.

"Aura Barrier!" cried Magnamon, enveloping the group in a veil of light energy. He was struggling, his trouble evident in his voice. "You guys have to hurry up! I can't hold this much longer!" Examon launched another laser into the barrier, followed by countless shells that exploded upon contact.

"Sorry Magnamon!" cried Lopmon. "We're going as fast as we can! Hang in there! Okay?"

"Wait a minute!" cried Bokomon. "Why on earth is Examon attacking us?" he exclaimed "He's a Royal Knight!"

"It's a long story." Magnamon said, the burden in his voice increasing. "He's been manipulated by those Triad clowns." Examon kept firing away.

"We're almost ready to send the signal!" reported Patamon.

"Good! Hurry, though. I can feel my power slipping." Magnamon said in a gasp.

"He's going to ram us!" cried one of the Toucanmon as Examon came streaking toward the group.

"It's ready!" cried Salamon. "Bokomon, Just speak into that orb to send the message, okay?"

"I'm sending the message?" Bokomon asked, flabbergasted by the request.

"Unless _you_ want to be the one holding off Examon with Magnamon," Salamon began.

"No! No! That won't be necessary!" he said.

"Okay! Let's do this then!" Lopmon cried.

"_Lopmon Warp Digivolve to-" _

"_Patamon Warp Digivolve to-"_

"_Salamon Warp Digivolve to-"_

_The angels were engulfed in three globes of data streams._

"_Cherubimon!"_

"_Seraphimon!"_

"_Ophanimon!"_

Where the three rookie angels once stood, the three mega-leveled, fully developed Celestial Angels now stood.

"Magnamon, be ready to drop the barrier on the count of three!" exclaimed Cherubimon.

"One." Said Cherubimon

"Two." Followed Seraphimon.

"Three!" exclaimed Ophanimon.

The barrier vanished and Magnamon grabbed Examon, tossing him to the side.

"Strike of the Seven Stars!"

"Lightning Spear!"

"Sefirot Crystal!"

The three mega-level attacks shot toward Examon, crossing and combining into an enormous beam of light. The impact caused a massive explosion and the sand kicked up, blinding everyone. Meanwhile, Bokomon, Neemon, and the Toucanmon found shelter to send out the message.

"_Greetings from the Digital World," Bokomon began, speaking clearly into the orb, as instructed. "Our world is in danger once more. The lives of millions will be lost if something is not done! We are calling upon you, denizens of the Real World, to come to our aid. The demise of our world could certainly mean an attack on your own world! Please, if you do choose to accept our plea, report to the Shibuya train station by 9:30 P.M. Take the elevator to the underground station and embark on this perilous journey! The Trailmon will leave by 9:55 P.M. Please! The sake of two worlds depends up you!"_

Outside, the sand storm had settled, and the damage done by the mighty attack was visible. A gaping hole, roughly 75 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, replaced a large portion of the once-lush tropical jungle. Hovering above that hole, unscratched, was Examon.

"How on Earth is that even possible?" cried Seraphimon.

"We hit him squarely! It should have at least done something!" Examon just laughed maniacally at their failed attempt.

"It's my turn now." He said with a sadistic cackle. "Dragonic Impact!" he cried as he darted toward the three angels.

"Heaven's Judgement!" cried Cherubimon as numerous lightning bolts struck the ground, Examon bobbing and weaving between each one, evading easily.

"How could he possibly be that fast?" Seraphimon said in shock.

"Eden's Javelin!" Ophanimon shouted as a blinding light shot from her javelin toward Examon. He took the blow full-on and continued forward, completely unfazed.

"Excalibur!" cried Seraphimon as he dashed toward the speeding Examon, a blade of light emitting from his right forearm. The two met in the middle and the result was catastrophic. The blade of Seraphimon colliding with the Chrome Digizoid armor of Examon caused a bright flash followed by a rift in the dimension as the ground around them began to falter and break apart. The area was completely corrupt by the sheer power of the five mega-level Digimon and the force of the Excalibur and Dragonic Impact acted as a catalyst. Seraphimon was blown back and collapsed in a heap. Ophanimon rushed toward her downed ally to aid him as Cherubimon launched another Lightning Spear at Examon.

"Well, we certainly are bold, _aren't we Cherubimon?_" jeered Examon. "Rash actions call for consequence, wouldn't you agree?" he smirked. He shot to the sky and his arm cannon began to glow once again. "Pendragon's Glory!" he roared as he took aim at Cherubimon.

"Extreme Jihad!" cried Magnamon, erupting seamlessly out of nowhere. His entire body lit up, surging with energy. Pulses of white light lashed out of his body like whips, disintegrating everything they touched. Magnamon shrieked in anguish as the energy he'd concentrated was beginning to overrun him. It formed an orb in the middle of his chest and pulsed in and out of his body, each time bringing a new level of pain to Magnamon. He flailed in every direction, writhing in pain. He curled up with one last ear-shattering scream. Examon launched his ray as Magnamon released the wave of energy he'd built up. Everything went white. Nothing could be seen nor heard for roughly ten seconds. When the blinding light faded, everybody lay unconscious on the ground, the angels reverting back to their rookie forms, except for in the places of Examon and Magnamon laid two Digi-Eggs. The area that had been formerly known as Toucan Paradise was no longer paradise. The resort was gone. The trees of the jungle were gone. The beach was decimated by holes and dunes. One of the few places unaffected by the previous destruction was now arguably the most horribly destroyed. All was not lost, though, as the message was on its way to the Real World and Magnamon had defeated Examon.

* * *

_They sure seem to be a lively group_. Hana thought as she daydreamed in the kitchen. _The one with the goggles reminds me of Sayuri, if she was a guy. _At that thought, Hana couldn't help but chuckle to herself, gaining a strange look from one of the cooks. Hana sweatdropped and walked away awkwardly.

"Hanako!" called the familiar voice of Hana's mother. "Sayuri's here for you!" _Oh yeah. I forgot that she said she would come by. _ Hana thought as she wandered out onto the floor, greeting her best friend with a hug.

"Hey squirt!" Sayuri said. "I managed to get Shirou out of his 'renovation' duties, so he'll probably be here soon."

"Oh, cool." Hana said.

"So what are you up to?" Sayuri asked.

"The usual." Hana responded casually. "Waiting tables, cleaning tables, setting tables. It's really crowded today, so I've been sorta busy."

"Well then I'll help you out!" Sayuri said. "I really don't have much else to do."

"No!" Hana said. "I'm not going to let you do my work for me. Besides, my mom won't let you either."

"What?" Sayuri asked. "Your mother loves me! She wouldn't mind."

"That's not what I meant. She wants me to 'take responsibility' and work." Hana explained.

"Oh." Sayuri said. "Whatever, a little help never hurt anyone."

"Fine. You can help me bring orders out to customers I guess." Hana gave in as she guided Sayuri back into the kitchen. "It's probably best to stay in here when it's this crowded."

"Yeah, I'd be embarrassed to be seen with me in public too." Sayuri said with a convincing sad look on her face.

"Oh, you know I love you and don't care what people think! You're like the sister I never had." Hana said, slugging her elder friend in the shoulder playfully. "Anyways, you can help me run drinks out to a booth."

"Your wish is my command, master." Sayuri said in a fake-hypnotic voice as Hana began filling the drinks from the strangely large order she'd just taken.

"Hey you guys!" yelled Shirou, who'd snuck up behind them while they were talking and scared them half to death.

"Shirou don't do that!" yelled both girls in unison as Hana grabbed a rag from underneath the counter to clean up the mess of the drinks she'd just made.

"Sorry!" he said "I couldn't resist." Sayuri slugged him hard in the shoulder. "Ow!" he cried "Well, I guess I sorta deserved that one."

"Yeah, ya think?" Sayuri said sarcastically.

"Shirou you can help us now, to make up for the wasted time and drinks." Hana said as Shirou groaned in displeasure. "I've got to make three root beer floats, pour a pot of coffee, and get a couple of soft drinks for an order. You can help Sayuri and me take it out to them, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." He said, unsatisfied with his new duty. Hana placed the root beer floats on a platter, the soft drinks on a second platter, and handed the pot of coffee to Shirou. Hana took the root beer floats and Sayuri took the soft drinks and they made their way through the crowded restaurant to the corner booth.

"Three root beer floats, black coffee, one Ramune, and one Jūrokucha." Hana said. As Sayuri approached with the soft drinks, she looked at the occupants of the booth and made a strange sound that was half way between a surprised and pleased. The group looked at her strangely and she just smiled and laughed.

"You're those people from the park earlier!" she said.

"Sayuri!" cried Hana.

"What? Are they not?" she asked innocently.

"Well…no." Hana said quietly. "Still! It's unprofessional to blurt something like that out to customers! It's also kind of creepy."

"To be fair, staring your customers down when they first walk in the door is kind of creepy too." Kouichi said with a grin and a small laugh.

"And I'm unprofessional?" Sayuri laughed as Hana flushed in annoyance and a bit of embarrassment.

"Could you quit yapping and just gimme my float already!" complained Takuya. Sayuri flushed with anger.

"Listen, bub-!" she started.

"Now, now Takky," J.P. said. "That was a rude thing to say." He turned to the waitress and her accomplices. "Please excuse my friend here; he gets cranky when he's hungry."

"Stop calling me that!" Takuya shouted.

"Indoor voice, Gogglehead." Kouji said cooly.

"Shut your trap, pretty boy!" he retorted.

"I see you've run out of insults." Kouji smirked. "You used that same insult on the way here, smart one."

"Whatever! I could've come up with a better one if I wanted to!" Takuya shot back.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Zoe whispered to Kouichi.

"I heard that!" Kouji and Takuya yelled in unison.

Sayuri, Hana, and Shirou sweatdropped.

"Well…" Sayuri started. "We'll just leave you six to resolve your problems in private." She placed her platter down and Hana and Shirou followed in suit as they bolted away from the strange group.

"Way to go, you guys!" Tommy said. "You scared them away."

"Sorry to kill your little romantic fantasy, short stuff." Takuya laughed.

"Shut up! I don't know what you're talking about!" Tommy insisted.

"Yeah, hothead, leave the kid alone." Kouji started. "After all, at least he had the manners to stay respectful to the girls."

"I would have been fine if that girl would have just-!" Takuya said as he was cut off by nine cell phones going off simultaneously. _Oh great. _Takuya thought. _That can't be good. There's no way that's coincidence_. He whipped his phone out, and sure enough, along with eight other phones, his had received a message. _WAIT A MINUTE! Why the hell are we getting this message on our phones? Maybe they figured we don't carry our D-Tectors anymore. But still,_ Takuya thought to himself. _If there are only six of us, and I just heard nine phones go off_, _what on earth is going on? _He looked around frantically to attempt to locate the remaining three phones.

"Uhm. You guys," Zoe spoke up, getting her friends' attention. She flicked her eyes to the group in the booth next to them. Sure enough, all three had their phones out with confused looks on their faces. _What could that mean? _Takuya thought.

"Maybe we should see what it's about." Kouichi said.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Kouji had his phone at his ear. As the message played on, his pupils dilated. _Not again. _He thought to himself. _They're in trouble again?_

"What is it about, Kouj?" J.P. asked.

"I-….I think…we're going back." Kouji said, in a state of utter disbelief.

"What?" Tomoki blurted out. "Back to the Digital World?"

Zoe looked at the three who'd received what she guessed was the exact same message. The guy had a look that said _this must be a really bad joke. "_You guys, what about them?" she said in a hardly audible voice.

"Hey!" said the guy from the booth next to them, causing Tommy and Zoe to jump. "You guys get the same message? Weird right? What a stupid joke!" he laughed, green eyes gleaming.

"It's not a joke!" Kouji said, a flash of rage in his eyes.

"What?" the guy replied, not sure what to think.

"That…isn't a joke." Kouichi spoke up. "This really isn't the best place to talk about this. We can explain everything in private, could you guys meet us out back?" he looked up, meeting each of the confused gazes, including that of the girl with the violet eyes. She looked more worried than confused. He looked over to the other girl now. She'd turned around and he could see that she had steel-grey eyes that appeared glazed over, giving her a mystical look. "By the way, My name's Kouichi Kimura."

"I'm Kazuhiro Okazaki." The guy replied.

"Okay, we have a lot to catch you guys up on, so let's get out of here!" Takuya said with enthusiasm. _Jeez._ Kouichi thought. _He looks like a five-year-old at Christmas. He's so excited to get back._ Kouichi paused for a moment. _In a way, I guess I am too._

"I should probably go back to the kitchen and flag down our waitress, though." Kouichi said. "I wouldn't want them to completely finish our food, only to have us leave. He headed off toward the kitchen as he saw their waitress and her two friends dart to the back of the restaurant, near where the restrooms and storage closets were. He followed them back there, having an odd feeling about what they were doing. He stood around the corner and out of their view, listening in.

"So, what do you guys think that was about?" Sayuri spoke.

"It's obviously just a prank!" Shirou said. "That was just some chainmail or something."

"I thought so too, Shirou, but there was no sender." Hana said.

"Yeah, Einstein!" said Sayuri.

"Well, I don't know. That was definitely weird, though, that all three of us would get the exact same call at the exact same time." Shirou said.

"What do they mean by the Digital World, though? And why do we have to save it? I don't even think Shibuya station _has_ an underground train!" Hana said. _Oh my God!_ Kouichi thought. _No way!_ _But wait._ Kouichi thought. If he and his six friends had already gotten the call along with three new people, how could _three _more have gotten it? There are only ten spirits.

"I don't know. There's no way my parents will let me out that late anyways." Hana said.

"I still think it's just a bad joke." Said Shirou.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Sayuri said. Kouichi had heard enough.

"It's not a joke." He said, turning the corner and startling them half to death. "My friends and I got the same message, along with the group in the booth next to us. It may sound crazy, but my friends and I know the Digital World all too well."

"What do you mean by that?" said Shirou suspiciously.

"Look, long story short, we're going to explain everything behind the restaurant. We need you guys to cooperate. It must be worse than last time if Ophanimon sent for twelve kids this time."

"Who the heck is Ophanimon?" asked Sayuri.

"Like I said, we're answering questions in the back now. Let's go."

"…Eh." Shirou said. "Why not?"

Hana led them out back from the exit in the kitchen, and sure enough, eight others stood there waiting. They all froze in fear when Shirou, Sayuri and Hana walked out and a collective sigh was heard when Kouichi followed.

"Uh.." Kouichi started. "We have three more I guess."

"Wait a minute." Kouji said. "What? How is that even possible? That makes twelve."

"Yeah we all know you can count, Kouji." Takuya said snarkily.

"This isn't the time to be screwing around, Takuya." Kouji said with a serious tone. "My point is that there are only ten Legendary Warriors."

"Oh yeah." Takuya said. "That can't be right."

"What the hell is a legendary warrior?" Sayuri butted in.

"We'll get to that in a moment." Kouichi said politely. "First let's start with introductions. I'm Kouichi Kimura. The one who looks like me is my twin brother, Kouji Minamoto." Kouji gave a half wave and cracked a barely-visible smile. "The one with the goggles is Takuya Kanbara."

"What's up, people?" Takuya said enthusiastically.

"The blonde girl is Izumi Orimoto. We just call her Zoe."

"Ciao! Pleased to meet you all." She said sweetly.

"The tall one is Junpei Shibayama."

"Please, call me J.P." J.P. said jollily.

"And last, but certainly not least, the little guy is Tomoki Himi."

"I'm not_ little_." Tommy complained. "Oh, and call me Tommy."

"What about you guys?" Zoe asked.

"I'm Kazuhiro Okazaki, but please, call me Kazu." said the oldest boy. "The girl with the short hair is my younger sister, Nanami."

"Sister?" rang nine voices simultaneously.

"You guys look nothing alike!" said Takuya.

"Pardon me, _step_-sister."

Nanami waved docilely and said "Hello. Strange way of making new friends, right?"

"Back to introductions!" said Kazu abruptly. "This girl over here that looks like she's sleepwalking is Miyuki Sato." The girl with the powder blue hair reacted slowly to the sound of her name.

"Please, call me Yuki." She spoke extremely slowly and rhythmically and her voice just further supported the idea that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"And what about you guys?" J.P. asked the last group.

"I'm Hanako Ushiba." said Hana. "Please, don't hesitate to call me Hana."

"Shirou Nakahara at your service." said Shirou.

"Sayuri Etsuko." said Sayuri. "Pleased to make your acquaintance." She said a little too formally.

"She never talks that properly. Normally she sounds more like a barbarian." Said Shirou.

"You take that back, you little worm!" yelled Sayuri as she locked Shirou in a headlock. Shirou screamed and struggled.

"Get this beast off of me!" Everyone but Hana looked on amusedly as Hana pleaded for her friends to behave themselves.

"Okay, enough with the formalities." said Kazu. "I believe you guys owe us some answers."

"Right," Kouji began. "As you guys already know, we all got a strange voicemail at the exact same time, coming from the Digital World."

"Your first question is probably 'what the hell is the Digital World.'" J.P. cut in. "Well, basically it's a parallel universe created by the data collected from the internet. This world isn't inhabited by humans, either. It's populated by a large variety of creatures called Digimon. Some mimic animals, some look like humans, and others don't really look like anything you've ever seen before. Oh, and these Digimon have special powers like launching fire balls or lightning bolts. What? Don't look at me like that!" he said, addressing six disbelieving looks.

"Okay, and how can we believe you?" Kazu asked. "You have to understand that your explanation sounds really dumb."

"There is no way to really believe us. You'll kind of just have to see for yourself." J.P. said.

"Why did they call on _us,_ though." asked Hana. "What makes us special?"

"Well, that's where things get odd." Kouichi said. "You see, my friends and I have already been to the Digital World. We were called four years ago to stop a dark force. Once we succeeded, we were sent back. Anyways, we were called because each of us had a special connection to an element. For example, I held darkness. Upon arriving, we were given these." Kouichi said as he pulled out his D-Tector. "These are D-Tectors. They give us the ability to hone our connected element and change form. We turn into creatures like J.P. had mentioned."

"Wait, you honestly expect us to believe you turn into giant monsters?" Shirou butted in. "That really is crazy."

"That also means you'll each possess an element as well," Tommy said. "But what I don't understand is that there are only ten elements. There are twelve of us."

"Who knows." said Takuya. "Maybe that stupid book of Bokomon's left something out.

"Who's Bokomon?" asked Nanami.

"He's one of the Digimon who helped us during our time in the Digital World last time." said Zoe.

"You actually befriended some of the monsters?" asked Sayuri.

"Well, you see," Junpei said. "There are a lot of Digimon. Some are good. Some are evil. Last time, one of the overlords of the world, who was part of a leading group called the Celestial Angels, was corrupted and turned evil. He took the spirits of five of the warriors and turned them into evil Digimon as well. It was our responsibility to stop them. We did, but it got even more complicated when two psychotic knights showed up and revived an ancient psycho Digimon and we had to ancient spirit evolve to defeat him." He just gazed at the confused people in front of them. "Ehhh it may make more sense when we get there."

"Who says we're actually going?" said Kazu. "I don't know about you nutcases, but that sounds pretty dangerous to me."

"Shut up." Kouji mumbled.

"What was that?" Kazu asked

"I said _shut up_." Kouji responded, his eyes flashing angrily. "I don't know about you, but when I think of millions of innocent lives being lost, it gets me angry. It makes me want to do something about it. You just sound like a coward." He looked away. "It's disgusting how conceited you are."

"What the hell is your problem, dude?" Kazu shot. "Who are you to judge somebody you've known for ten minutes? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't want to worry my family for a world that has _nothing _to do with me?"

"Did you even listen to the message?" Kouji said in rage. "They even said it. If we don't do something, our world will be in trouble too. Last time, Lucemon tried to enter our world and enslave it too. Did it ever occur to you that maybe if you don't go, you won't have a family to worry?" tension was high, but broken by Miyuki.

"I think they're right." She said in her strange and mystical voice. "Maybe we should go. After all, I don't think enslavement would be very fun."

"Besides," Shirou broke in. "I think it would be awesome to turn into a monster and kick some ass!"

"Shirou," Sayuri started. "You'll probably turn into something lamer than you already are."

"Shut up!" Shirou said defensively. "I bet I'd kick your ass!" Everyone sweatdropped as the two began fighting again. The argument was cut short, however, by six loud beeping sounds. They all covered their ears. Takuya, Kouji, J.P., Tommy, and Zoe reached into their pockets and pulled out their D-Tectors. Theirs, along with Kouichi's, were the source. Takuya began banging his with his free hand as the others just looked at theirs, surprised and clueless. Then, as suddenly as it started, the noise stopped.

"Phew." said Zoe. "That was new. Glad it's over, though."

"Yeah, I wonder what that was about." Tommy said. As he said it, their D-Tectors began gowing.

"What now?" Sayuri whined.

"You sure those things are safe? They aren't going to blow up or anything, right?" Kazu said. As he said it, each D-Tector flew out of its owner's hand and hovered above everybody.

"What's going on with them today?" Kouichi asked quizzically. "They haven't done anything in four year." There were six loud bangs, like firecrackers, as each D-Tector suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"Wahh!" cried Takuya. "What the hell! My D-Tector! My Spirits!"

"That's definitely not good." said Zoe.

"There's got to be an explanation for that." said J.P. "Maybe they were reacting to the trouble in the Digital World or something?"

"Well, we really can't dwell on that." Zoe said. "Back on topic, any other questions?"

"Well, I'm sure we still have a lot." Hana said. "But, it's 9:00 already. We don't really have time for that."

"Right." Zoe said. "So, are you guys willing to do this?"

"Well," Nanami said. "What do we tell our parents?"

"Don't worry about that." Kouichi said. "Time moves much faster in the Digital World. Last time we were there, we were there for three weeks. When we got back, it was only a few minutes after we'd left."

"Well, now that that's solved," Shirou said. "I'm in."

"Yeah, I wanna go too." Sayuri said. "I need to kick his ass when we get there though."

"Well, if they're in, so am I." Hana said.

"Great!" Zoe said.

"I'd love to go as well." Miyuki said. "I think it would be an extraordinary experience."

"Well, it won't fail you." J.P. said.

"I guess I'll go too." Nanami said quietly. "I couldn't live with it if something horrible happened because of me." Kouichi smiled.

"That's great to hear." He said.

"No way." Kazu said.

"What the hell is your problem, man!" Takuya blurted.

"You didn't let me finish. I was going to say," he smirked. "No way could I let my little sister go without me." He smiled at Kouji."Sorry about earlier. You're right. I was being an idiot."

"No. It's okay. I know how you feel." Kouji said.

"Hey lovebirds, we need to get out of here now." Takuya cut in.

"Shut up, Gogglehead." Kouji said cooly as he started walking.

"Well, I guess we should go. We don't want to be late." said Kouichi.

* * *

Author's Notes:

This was a really long chapter, my longest yet, and it really took a lot to think everything through and not contradict anything I mentioned earlier. I hope I did well and nothing is confusing or poorly written. I know it was kind of a boring end and everything. I think a lot of things were made evident with this chapter and I hope you liked it! I'll try to have Chapter 4 up within the next 2 weeks!

Please Review!


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